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paint oneself into a corner

To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions.

Etymology:

  • From the idea that a person painting the floor of a room may inadvertently apply the paint everywhere except the corner that the person is standing in, so that to leave the room the person has no choice but to step on the freshly painted floor and damage it.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to paint oneself into a corner

out of the frying pan, into the firemake oneself at homeplay with oneselfmake a spectacle of oneselfmake an exhibition of oneselfpaint your back door red!melt intooccupy oneselfplough intomake a pig of oneselfmake oneself scarcemelt intoplow intoplough into

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